1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to air-conditioners for vehicles and, more particularly, to an air-conditioner for a vehicle, which is capable of reducing the volume of a casing in a front-back transverse direction of the casing.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a vehicle is equipped with an air-conditioner for controlling the temperature and humidity of the air in the interior thereof. The air-conditioner generates warm air from a heater in the winter season, thus keeping the interior of the vehicle warm, and generates cool air from an evaporator in the summer season, thus keeping the interior of the vehicle cool.
As shown in FIG. 7A, a conventional air-conditioner for a vehicle comprises a casing 10, with both an evaporator 20 and a heater 30 installed in the casing 10. The evaporator 20 cools the air flowing in the interior of the casing 10, thus producing cool air, while the heater 30 heats the air flowing in the casing 10, thus producing warm air.
Further, the air-conditioner is provided with a defrost vent 40, a face vent 42, a shower vent 44, and a floor vent 46, which discharge air from the heater 30 or the evaporator 20 into the interior of the vehicle. Here, the defrost vent 40 discharges air from the heater 30 or the evaporator 20 to a windshield during DEF mode or mix mode. The face vent 42 discharges air from the heater 30 or the evaporator 20 towards the faces of a driver and a passenger when in vent mode or bi-level mode. The shower vent 44 and the floor vent 46 discharge air from the heater 30 or the evaporator 20 to the knees and legs of a driver and a passenger, or to the floor or rear seat in the vehicle during floor mode or bi-level mode.
As shown in FIG. 7B, the conventional air-conditioner is problematic in that an additional space must be provided in the rear portion of the casing to discharge air to the floor vent 46, so that it is difficult to realize space intensive arrangement and design of the vehicle. Especially in terms of the design of the interior of the vehicle, the space intensive arrangement and design has been emphasized.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.